2nd Hays patient sues over hepatitis C diagnosis

Thursday

Oct 4, 2012 at 2:00 PM

A second patient at Hays Medical Center is suing after contracting a strain of hepatitis C linked to a traveling hospital technician.

AP

A second patient at Hays Medical Center is suing after contracting a strain of hepatitis C linked to a traveling hospital technician.Tom Walters of rural Catharine filed a lawsuit Monday against a Pennsylvania hospital and two medical staffing agencies. The lawsuit contends the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was negligent for not reporting that technician David Kwiatkowski allegedly stole and used narcotics in 2008.Walters contracted hepatitis C while being treated at Hays Medical Center in 2010, when Kwiatkowski was working there.Kwiatkowski has denied allegations that he injected himself and used contaminated syringes on patients across the country.The Hays Daily News reports four of 474 patients treated at Hays tested positive for a hepatitis C strain similar to one carried by Kwiatkowski.